XiaoTong Column · 2025-06-29

Risk Compass”Internet wealth management in China”

I. Industry Risk Analysis

(1) Policy Risk

The internet wealth management industry currently faces the risk of periodic policy fluctuations:
– During the policy – making stage, regulatory authorities are accelerating the improvement of the penetration – based regulatory framework. Entrepreneurs are confronted with a sharp increase in compliance costs due to the continuous update of filing rules.
– At the policy implementation stage, the differences in regulatory standards across regions make it difficult to launch cross – regional businesses. The implementation of the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Regulations forces enterprises to restructure their user privacy handling mechanisms.
– In the policy evaluation and adjustment period, stricter anti – monopoly supervision restricts the expansion speed of platforms. After the end of the transition period of the new asset management regulations, some innovative products face the risk of being taken off the market. The brewing internet finance hierarchical licensing system may directly eliminate small and medium – sized platforms.

(2) Economic Risk

The internet wealth management industry is significantly affected by economic cycle fluctuations:
– In an economic downturn, residents’ risk appetite decreases, leading to intensified capital outflows and a shrinkage of the platform’s asset management scale.
– Interest rate fluctuations directly affect the yields of fixed – income products, weakening market attractiveness.
– The contraction of the credit cycle raises the bad debt risk on the asset side, putting pressure on the quality of underlying assets.
– The space for regulatory arbitrage disappears as counter – cyclical adjustment policies tighten, resulting in a sharp increase in compliance costs.
– In the capital winter, financing channels narrow. Start – up enterprises face the dual pressures of cash – flow disruption and valuation inversion.

(3) Social Risk

The internet wealth management industry faces an obvious risk of inter – generational consumption gap:
– Generation Z prefers high – risk, high – liquidity fragmented wealth management. However, the volatility of product returns can easily trigger a collective collapse of trust.
– Middle – aged groups focus more on asset preservation but are squeezed out by traditional financial institutions. It is difficult for platforms to balance stable returns and compliance costs.
– Elderly users are prone to fall into fraud traps due to the digital divide. Negative public opinion will exacerbate the stigmatization of the industry.
– In the process of inter – generational wealth transfer, the blind pursuit of non – standard products by young people may induce a systematic payment crisis. If entrepreneurs overly cater to the needs of a single generation, the inter – generational trust chain will be broken.

(4) Legal Risk

The internet wealth management industry faces multiple legal risks under high – pressure supervision:
– High thresholds for qualification compliance (the lack of financial licenses leads to the risk of illegal business operations).
– Strict supervision of user data security (information leakage may result in high – value fines and a trust crisis).
– Product promotion is restricted by financial advertising regulations (inappropriate return promises can easily be regarded as fraud).
– Incomplete anti – money – laundering review mechanisms (oversight in monitoring suspicious transactions may trigger regulatory accountability).
– Insufficient investor suitability management (illegal sales of high – risk products may lead to class – action lawsuits).
– Defects in fund custody compliance (illegal use of third – party payment interfaces leads to the risk of a fund pool).

II. Entrepreneurship Guide

(1) Suggestions on Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Entrepreneurs should focus on innovation in niche scenarios:
– Seize the demand for wealth management companionship among Generation Z. Develop a combined tool of AI – powered robo – advisors and gamified wealth management education to enter the market of first – time wealth management for new employees.
– Explore the blank space of inclusive wealth management in third – and fourth – tier cities. Design a lightweight SaaS platform for “family wealth management advisors” combined with local social fission.
– Use blockchain technology to build a decentralized wealth management community. Create a wealth management social currency for Generation 00 around low – threshold products such as ETFs and REITs.
– Focus on building a compliant and licensed wealth management content aggregation platform. Dynamically match the characteristic wealth management products of regional banks with users’ risk profiles through big data.

(2) Suggestions on Entrepreneurial Resources

Entrepreneurs in the internet wealth management industry should focus on integrating compliance – related resources:
– Prioritize cooperation with the underlying assets of licensed financial institutions to overcome the license compliance barrier.
– Obtain modular technical solutions such as robo – advisors and risk – control modeling by collaborating with fintech service providers to reduce self – R & D costs.
– Utilize the resources of financial vertical KOLs on short – video platforms for precise traffic distribution. Build a wealth management community based on user profiles to improve user retention.
– Introduce strategic investors with banking and securities industry backgrounds to obtain both capital and industry access resources.
– Deeply explore the consumption big – data resources of payment institutions to develop scenario – based wealth management product portfolios and build differentiated service capabilities.

(3) Suggestions on Entrepreneurial Teams

Entrepreneurs in the internet wealth management industry should focus on building a composite team:
– Prioritize recruiting core members with experience in financial product design, technical security development, and compliance operations. The founder should ensure that at least one partner has practical experience in applying for financial licenses or regulatory compliance.
– The technical leader should have the ability to balance big – data risk control and user experience optimization.
– It is recommended to adopt a “dynamic option pool + performance betting” mechanism for the equity structure, reserving more than 20% of the incentive space for core positions.
– The team should set up a full – time policy research position to track the dynamics of the central bank and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Form an advisory group consisting of lawyers, accountants, and information security experts, and hold monthly compliance sand – table deduction meetings.
– Establish an AB – role system to deal with the risk of key – position staff turnover. Achieve a dynamic balance between rapid product iteration and risk control through an agile management model.

(4) Suggestions on Entrepreneurial Risks

Entrepreneurs in the internet wealth management industry should strengthen the compliance and risk – control system:
– Plan in advance for financial license applications and establish a dynamic regulatory early – warning mechanism. Use blockchain technology to make the capital flow transparent and reduce the risk of a fund pool.
– Build an intelligent risk assessment model. Conduct penetration – based product adaptation according to user profiles and avoid promises of rigid payment.
– Launch new products in a gray – scale testing mode. Embed risk – warning clauses about return fluctuations in user agreements.
– Set up a public opinion monitoring system to capture regulatory signals in real – time. Cooperate with third – party law firms for compliance audits. Reduce the probability of legal disputes through user education pages. Reserve 10% – 15% of operating funds as a reserve for regulatory policy changes.

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